Pea harvesting and threshing machine



Sept. 2, 1952 B. c. COONS PEA HARVESTING AND THRESHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS Sept. 2, 1952 B. c.- COONS PEA HARVESTING AND THRESHING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 20, 1947 O O O 0 INVENTOR BURTON c. coon s ATTORNEYS /OOOOOOOOOOO oo pooooooooooo oooooooooooooo mg "i u m Q Sept. 2, 1952 B. c. cooNs 2,608,973

PEA HARVESTING AND THRESHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet s 24 E'IE'| :ED

\D 3 "8 INVENTOR BURTON C. COONS ATTORNEYS P 1952 B. c. COONS i 2,608,973

' PEA HARVESTING AND THRESHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 J 32 J? 60 28 6 N 64 M INVENTOR BURTON c. GOONS QWM Akw

ATTQRNEYS Sept. 2, 1952 B. c. COONS PEA HARVESTING AND THRESHING MACHINE -Filecil Sept. 20, 1947 5 Shests-Sheet 5 fe o o ooo x 060606667 //o 0 o o o o 0 0 0 o0 0o0o0o *eoooooe wobgagogogog O O O W 1 INVENTOR aun'ron c. GOONS ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 2, 1952 PEA HARVESTING AND THR SHING MACHINE Burton- G. Coons, San Jose, Calif., assignor to Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation, a corporationof; Delaware Application September 20, 1947, Serial No. 775,178

7 Claims. (Cl. 130-30) The present invention relates to mechanisms for shelling green peas; beans, or other legumes. "It" is particularly applicable to legume-shelling mechanism of the type adapted to form part of a mobile harvesting machine. Such machines combine shelling mechanisms with automatic cutting devices-for cutting the vines in the fields and with elevators for-delivering; the cut vines to theshelling mechanism proper where they are or handling capacity. Thus, in machines of the 2 impact type, wherein the filled pea pods are cracked open by the impact of rotating beaters, any increase in the operational speed of the heaters for the purpose. of raising the capacity of the machine is accompanied by a pronounced increase in the number of bruised. or otherwise damaged peaswith all the harmful consequences above described.

Another problem, whichi's. oppositely related to processed to recover the pea berries while the ma- 10 the problem of protecting the pea berries iromfinchine traverses the field. jury, is the problem of waste. If pea-shelling Mechanical methods of harvesting legumes are machinery is operated with sufiicient caution to confronted with many vexing problems. Thus, avoid injury to the pea berries, this does not only "the period duringwhich green peas are-of an apreduce the capacity of the installation, but, in propri'ate degree of maturity for canningpu-rposes addition, increases the quantity of pea berries is rather short and frequently only a matter of that will not be stripped from their pods and will days. During this time enormous quantities of go to waste as the shell debris is returned to the peas-must beharvested, shelled, and canned in a field. certain area, or they will become too ripe for It is further highly desirable that the, pea berpreservation in cans. It is, therefore, of pararies discharged from a shelling machine upon mount importance that pea-shelling machines are processing of the filled pods, with or Without the capable of handling large quantities of the vines, be free from chaff, shell fragments, dirt, legumes inacontinuous process, otherwisea great and other impurities. Otherwise, additional portion of the crop may ripen into a produce of a process steps and separate machinery may be materially lower selling price, or the number of 5 necessary to segregate the peas from foreign mat,- machines required to service a'certain area may t l before y are ready for Canning, whic be so great and may account to so large an 11 1- means additional cost and additional loss of time. productive investment for the remainder of the It is an object of the present invention to furyear as to render the cost of harvesting the peas n Sh an. effic e pea-shelling c e which. is 'unprofitably high. M capable of swiftly handling large quantities of Toget the peas from the field in-tothe containpeas in a continuous process. ers within the shortest possibletime and thus in- Another object is to furnish a p ng macrease thecapacity ofthe harvesting apparatus, chine. adapted to Strip the pea berries frOm h machines have, therefore, been devised to shell pods Without fir Separating the. pods from the the peas without first separating the pods from vines. the vines. However, the knownmethods of har- Anotherv Object is to provide a machine for vesting peas in this manner cause considerable shelling peas ile the pods are still attached to amounts of the juices squeezed from the vines to the s, WheYBin at Ofi of the peas by contaminate the peas, which materially impairs the juices of the vines is kept at a minimum. the taste and hence the quality of the canned Anoth r ct is t p v a pea-sh llin maproduct. 40 chine which, though adapted to swiftly process Another serious problem in harvesting legumes large quantities of pods, is of a construction that -pr d y fi fi a een peas are of a will safeguard the peas against injury such as very delicate nature and may easily be bruised bruising splitting or crushing or crushedduring mechanical shelling'operations. 4 Another objet is t provide a pea-podding gq jjmi a i it??? mus-t b kPplt machine which, is adapted to separate the ex.- mm t .raslons a t t as posstble tracted peas from practically all contaminating since the condition of the individual peasis a ti; h h H d b t direct-measure of the quality of the canned proer 51.10 as u 8 vme' Sp m duce. Damaged 'peasare subject to enzymic deand the teriorationand'bacteriological decomposition. P i 1S Pmwde an emPlent Pea.- gm w many'of the known methods of shelling machine of the type characterized which mechanically sheliing peas are of such a nature combines large capacity with Such $5 that the problem of preserving the pea berries of construction as to len itself readily t0 i e intact-stands indirect opposition to the problem 5 u These and other objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile pea harvester embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a pea-shelling machine constructed in accordance with my invention, such as forms part of the harvesting machine illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section of the machine illustrated in Fig. 2 taken along line 3-3 thereof.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the machine illustrated in Fig. 2 taken along line 44 thereof.

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing mechanism to prevent accidental cutting of the pea berries.

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating the position which a pod-bearing vine will assume on the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 5.

Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10 are fragmentary views, in

perspective, of the pea-shelling mechanism proper, in four different phases of its operational cycle.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary plan view of the lower part of the pea-shelling mechanism illustrated in Figs. 7-10.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary section through the pea-shelling mechanism longitudinally of the machine.

The mobile pea harvester constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a pea-shelling machine A mounted upon the platform of a wheeled carriage B which may be drawn by a tractor C. Arranged at one side of the machine A for movement with carriage B is a vinecutting mechanism D from which the harvested vines with the pods attached thereto are delivered to the top of the machine A by an elevator E, as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the pea-shelling machine A of my invention comprises an endless conveyor 2!] composed of a plurality of hingedly connected rectangular sheets or plates 2| of metal, wood, hard rubber, or any other suitable material. In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing the lateral edges of these sheets are each bolted or otherwise secured to a link 22 and the links of successive sheets are connected by pivots 23 to form two parallel chains 24 and 25. These chains are trained around pairs of star or skeleton wheels 26 and 21 arranged at the supply and the discharge end of the machine, respectively, and mounted for movement in unison upon transverse shafts 28 and 29 which are journaled in suitable bearings supported from the machine frame.

The endless conveyor has an upper horizontal run which is maintained in proper position intermediate of the skeleton wheels 2S and 21 by a pair of longitudinally positioned angle bars 30 and 3| (Fig. 4) arranged at either side of the conveyor and rigidly supported from the machine frame. These angle bars possess inwardly directed horizontal flanges for supporting glide roller sleeves 32 arranged around the outwardly projecting ends of the pivots 23, as

best shown in Fig. 4. The lower horizontal run of the endless conveyor 20 is similarly supported by another pair of longitudinally positioned angle bars 33 and 34 carried by the machine frame, as likewise shown in Fig. 4.

Each of the plates 2! of the conveyor 2!] (Fig. 11) is provided with numerous perforations 35 of preferably circular contour which are of such diameter as to pass maximum size peas or what- 'ever other legume for which the machine may be designed. The upper edges of these perforations should be rounded or beveled, as may be seen from Fig. 12, to avoid injury to the peas passing through said perforations. In addition, each conveyor plate 2| is provided with a number of outwardly projecting equi-spaced pins or studs 36 (Fig. 12) which are arranged in parallel longitudinal rows spaced equal distances apart in transverse direction, as illustrated in Figs. '7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.

In order that the conveyor 20 may be turned in clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 3). the transverse shaft 29, which carries the skeleton wheels 21 at the discharge end of the machine, is laterally extended to support a pulley 31 (Fig. 2) which is operatively connected by drive belts 38 with any suitable source of rotary power such as the engine F.

Disposed above the upper horizontal run of the conveyor 20, at the initial part thereof, is a feed hopper 39 of conventional design (Fig. 3) which is suitably supported from the machine frame in such a manner that its lower end is positioned somewhat above the level of the studs or pins 36. The previously mentioned supply elevator E is arranged to deliver the cut vines with the pods attached thereto from the vineharvesting mechanism D into the feed opening of the hopper 39 (Fig. 1).

Closely behind the hopper 39 (Fig. 3) there extends across the upper horizontal run of the conveyor 20 a transverse shaft 40 the ends of which are journaled in bearings that are supported from the machine frame at either side of the conveyor, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The terms ahead of and behind and words of similar import as used in the present description and the following claims when referring to operative portions of the shelling mechanism shall be held to mean "with relation to the movement of the conveyor through the shelling or hulling zone and not the direction of travel of the harvester through a field. Firmly mounted upon the shaft 40 are several circular knives 4| spaced equal distances apart and so positioned relative to the conveyor 20 and the projecting studs 36 thereof that the planes of their blades are parallel to the direction of movement of said conveyor with their cutting edges extending into spaces intermediate of adjacent longitudinal rows of said studs. To operate the knives 4|, the shaft 40 is laterally extended, as shown in Fig. 2, and carries a pulley 42 which may be driven from the same or a separate source of power as the conveyor 20.

During operation of the pea-shelling machine of my invention, the circular knives 4| are turned at high speed to slice the pea vines, moved against them by the advance of the conveyor 20, into portions of such limited length as to preclude the formation of bunches of a size that might interfere with the operation of pea-shelling mechanism proper. To protect the peas from accidental injury, while the vines are being sliced to pieces by the action of the circular knives 4|, the blades of these knives are provided with guards 43 (Figs. 5 and 6) of such construction as to cause the plump bodies of filled pods to slide laterally out of the range of the rotating cutting edges while freely permitting access to all vines of excessive length for effective reduction thereof.

For this purpose each knife 4| is associated with a cranked arm 44 (Fig. 2). All arms 44 are adjustably mounted upon a transverse rod 45 which is supported from the machine frame at a point in front of the hopper 39 and above'the level of the conveyor pins 36. Each arm 44 is accepts disposed; between. twotad J'acent. rowsot pins; 35

ta-in distance; below.the-dischargep nine here.-

of; (Fig.3) to apoint in front of theeffective sec:- tor of its associated: knife; where. it forks into two. parallel prongstlt and H-which. embrace part: of 1 thexpenipheral area: of the 'blade as-loest shownl inzEigz. 5.. As. likewise shown: in Figthe arm 44. and: its-prongs and. 4-1- havethe-shae of bars. with :theinflat sides disposed. vertically so. that they "present; relatively narrow edges. to vines: descendinguporrthe;conveyor 2i] :lth-rough. theieed; hopper as. At-points. near its end, the narrowruBPfin-edge of. each, bar- 44 is provided witha.--sequenceu,,ot gently rising; and abruptly descending humps; 48:. and. 49 which may extend; into. the forked.- end: portion of. the: arm, asvshownirrl 'iggfr.

During operation-when. the harvested vines descend through the hopper. 39. and; settle upon the; conveyon'plates 2d,;tfilled pea pods, due to their roundness and due; to their weight will, as a rule, slide ofithe narrowupper; edges of. the bars 44 and, position themselves-at'either side thereof, as: shown in. 6. Thus, as, the steady advance; of the; conveyorzllipresents the-mass of vines andpodsto the actionof the slicing knives M, the prongs Hi and: 411 at the-end ofarms 44 willkeep the podssaielyaway from the cutting "edgeswhile vines, of sufficient; lengthor vines connecting podsposi'tioned at,.either side of the bars 44 cannot escape the. cutting action OfgSEtld knives. If itshould happen, however, thatapod balances upon-the upper edgev of an arm: 44. as it advances toward thev zone-of; the rotating knives, the :suddendro-p or? the pod. from; the; peak cut loose by the action oi theirotating knives 4i 1.

and, if slender enough, may slip through, the perf'orations 35 thereof,,-narrow'vstrips 50' of sheet metal (Fig. 2) or any other suitable material are arranged betweezreachtwo"adiacentlongitudinal rows'of. studs 36 below thevlevel-jof the rotating a knivestocover upthese; perforations for the time of their travel underneathknives M and thus :prevent: accidental escape oi-unprocessed pods. These strips 50- extend preferably-from apoint in front: of'the hopper 3.9: to a point rearwardly of the. knives 4i and. may be supported, iii-any suitable. manner-,suchas the'on-e illustrated in Fig. 3 where their left endsare-bent 'upwardlyxand are secured to a bridge 5| supported by theimachine frame'and extendingztransversely acrossthe con- 7 4 veyor- 2.0 abovethe level of; pins 36..

To crack the. pods:- entrained'on. the conveyor plates 21 'four juxtapositionedrectangularplates 52 (Fig. 2') are'arranged across theconveyor 2-!) directly behind the. circular k-n'ives 4 l' for. limited reciprocating movement'inadirection.transverse ly to the direction of movement of said conveyor. These plates 5.2 arewsimilar-Iin size. and: construction to the conveyor plates. 21: but: are devoid. oi

perforations-andiare inverted, with their studs f all . 53,. pliolecting: downwardly and. are-.interposedz-hetween the. studs; 3.6 extending upwardly from: the conveyon plates 21-, as shown int-Figs. 3-; andi 4.

Like. the studs 363cm the conveyor plates, the

.studs 53 on the reciprocatingplates are-spaced equal distances apart from one anotherand-are aligned in transverse as well as longitudinal direction.

The long edges ofithe reciprocating; plates. 5; are slidably supported. by tracks; 54 disposed across. the. conveyor 20 above the level ofqthe upwardly projecting conveyor. studs. 35. These tracks are of a greaterlength than the-transverse qdi-mensionsoi either plates 2!. or plates 52', as may best: beseen. from Fig. v2-,.so as to .provide sufiicient space for the latter. to shift relative to the former in. transverse direction.

Inthe embodiment illustrated in the drawing the. tracks 5ta-re formed by a number oft L- -or l -bars, respectively, depending on whether-they accommodate-an outer edgeor two adjacentinner edges of the plates 52, and the ends-"of these bars, rest upon-the; horizontal flanges of .a pair of parallel angle bars 55 arranged at either side of the upper horizontal run. of the conveyoeln and rigidly supported from the. machine; frame,

as. shown. in- Fig, 4.

To reciprocate the studded plates 512.111 the describedv manner, a connecting rod or pitman 56. ishinged to the center-0t each plate,.as;shown in Fig; 2. The oppositeend of each oisaid pitman extends laterally beyond the conveyor arrangement; and, is pivotally connected to one; arm of abellcrank lever 51, which is rotatably mount? edv upon a horizontally positioned shaft 58; (Fig. 4) rigidly supported from. themachine. frame by a number of brackets 59 (Figs. 2 and l). The other arm of the bell crank lever 51 is pivoted to the upper end of a vertical link 69, the; lower end of which carries a. roller Bl; that engages the cam way 62 of a box cam 63. This box cam is firmly mounted upon .a horizontally positioned drive shaft 6,4 which is rotatably supported by anumber of brackets 65. projecting laterally from the machine: frame, asshow-n inFig. 4.

A bevel, gear 66 (Fig. 2) is. keyed upon the shaft 64 near the discharge end of the-"machine and meshes with another bevel gear 61 keyed upon a laterally extended end of the previously mentionedtransverse shaft. .29 which drives the skeleton wheels 2'!- and-which carries a pulley 3'5 that is operatively connected to .a suitable source of rotary power, aspreviously pointedout.

Thus, when rotation of the transverse shaft 29 sets the conveyor 2-8 into. motion, it will also turn the longitudinal shaft Stand the box earns 63 which control the movement of the reciprocat ing plates.

As shown in Fig. l, the cam ways-'2 of the box cams 6'3 rises gradually from its lowest point 68 to a solitary peak Bddiametrically opposite thereof, and then returns to said lowest point 68 in a symmetrical: pattern. .As likewise, showni-n Fig. 4, the roller 6| at thebottom end of the link on engages the cam way 62 at a point vertically below the drive shaft it for whichreason the link 69' is vertically slotted, as shown at 10-, to accommodate said shaft. V

As a box cam-6'3 is turned in counterclockwise direction as viewed: in Fig, 4-) by movement of the conveyor drive-shaft 2'9, the roller til at the bottom of linhtii climbs gradually to. the peak 69. of the-cam way 62-. As a result :thereo,,the link 6.0, being confined to: substantially linear movement in, vertical.v direction. due to. shaft. 64 engaging its vertical slot Hi, movesdownwardly and turns the bell crank lever 51 in clockwise direction. This in turn causes the pitman 55 to slide its associated plate 52 to the right, across the conveyor 26, to an extent determined by the relative lengths of the arms of bell crank lever 51.

As the box cam 63 continues its rotary movement, the roller descends gradually from the peak 69 of the cam way 62 and pushes link 60 upwardly, which turns the bell crank lever in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 4) causing the pitman 56 to return its associated plate 52 to its original position.

The pins or studs 36 of the conveyor and those 53 of the reciprocating plates are arranged in spaced apart patterns, so that when relatively interposed, as the conveyor advances, and as the plates 52 are reciprocated back and forth, the pins 53 of the reciprocating plates will move along 'zig-za'g paths through the conveyor pins without striking them. In this manner, the conveyor pins draw the chopped up vines along through the shelling zone while the plate pins alternately approach, cross over past, and recede from the advancing conveyor pins. This action cracks open the pods and rolls out the peas, but has very little crushing action on the vines or the peas themselves.

Figs. '7, 8, 9 and illustrate the relative positions of the two interjacent sets of studs 36 and 53 at four different stages during one cycle of operation of the reciprocating plates 52, during an advance of the conveyor. The studs of the conveyor plates are cut short and the showing of the studs 53 of the reciprocating plates restricted to one transverse row so as to clearly show the path of the latter relative to the former.

Fig. 7 represents an initial position in which the studs 53 of the reciprocating plate 52 are longitudinally aligned with the studs 35 of the conveyor plates 2|, with each stud 53 being positioned halfway between two longitudinally adjacent studs 36. Fig. 8 illustrates a somewhat later stage in which the reciprocating plate 52 has moved to the left, as indicated by arrow Z, over a distance equal to the interval between adjacent longitudinal rows of the conveyor studs, while the conveyor plates have advanced in the direction of arrow f over a distance corresponding to the interval between two of their longitudinally consecutive studs. These movements place the studs 53 again into alignment with longitudinally adjacent studs 36 of the conveyor plates 2|, with the difference, however, that they are now stationed one longitudinal row to the left and one transverse row to the rear of their original positions.

Fig. 9 illustrates the extreme left position of the reciprocating studs 53 at the moment when the plate 52 is about to reverse its direction and move to the right, as indicated by arrow 1'. It shows that the studs 53 have reached a position intermediate of adjacent longitudinal rows of the conveyor studs 36 while the latter have advanced a distance corresponding to half their longitudinal interval so that the reciprocating studs 53 are now aligned with a transverse row of the conveyor studs 36.

y In Fig. 10 the reciprocating studs 53 have reached their extreme right position in which they are again in alignment with a transverse row of the conveyor studs 36 but are now two longitudinal rows to the rear'of the extreme left position illustrated in Fig. 9. As the machine continues to operate, a new cycle of identical character is initiated and will be followed by other such cycles as long as the machine remains in operation. v

In Figs. 710 the path described by the rightmost one of the studs 53 has been marked in its successive stages of progress and indicates that the reciprocating studs 53 move through the forest of the advancing conveyor studs 36 in sinuous or zig-zag paths without at any time interfering with the steady advance of the latter. In their relative movement the distances between the two sets of studs 36 and 53 vary from a maximum of about half the interval between studs 36 (less half the thickness of a stud 53) to a minimum which is reached as a stud 53 passes just ahead of an advancing stud 36, and to the right or the left thereof, as the case may be.

The maximum distance, which the studs 36 and 53 assume relative to one another during operation of the machine, should be chosen sufficiently wide to prevent excessive accumulation of the vines in front of the first reciprocating plate 52 and the minimum distance, which studs 36 and 53 assume, should preferably be such that it will just pass the maximum-sized peas without injuring them. When properly dimensioned in this respect, the machine of the present invention will swiftly process large quantities of vines, and will bend, crack and squeeze the pea pods between the rounded surfaces of the studs 36 and 53 in such a manner as to cause practically all of the pea berries to drop, or be driven, from their shells, without bruising, crushing, or otherwise injuring their delicate structures.

Moreover, appropriate predetermination of the minimum distance, which the studs 36 and 53 assume relative to one another during operation of the mechanism, in combination with the reduction in length of the vines as secured by the action of the previously described slicing knives 4|, prevents excessive squeezing and rupturing of the pea vines and thus minimizes exudation'of .vine juices that might contaminate the peas and impair their taste.

To establish the favorable operating conditions described above, the thickness of the studs 35 and 53 and the transverse as well as longitudinal spaces between the studs on both plates 2| and 52 require careful dimensioning, and also the relative movements of the plates must be exactingly timed by appropriately proportioning the bevel gears 66 and 67 on cam shaft 64 and conveyor drive shaft 29, respectively, and by properly dimensioning the box cam 63 and the arms of bell crank lever 51.

Furthermore, to prevent the peas from being crushed, or otherwise injured, underneath the ends of the reciprocating studs 53, these studs should be of such vertical length that the space between their ends and the plates 2| is too small to admit any pea berries, and the edges of their ends should be rounded as shown in Fig. 12. In this manner, the ends of the studs 53 will be effective to tear open pods lying directly on the conveyor plates 2| but will be unable to injure the peas which they will merely push around until they escape through one of the perforations 35. Even the upper edges of these perforations should be rounded off or beveled, as shown in Fig. 12 and as has previously been described, to avoid accidental injury to the peas as they are moved over the plates 2| and into said perforations 35 by the reciprocating motion of the studs 53.

To permit adaptation of the mechanism to different crop conditions the position of the studs 53 may be-vertically adjustable, as shown in Fig.

12 wherein {the upper threaded ends or the studs 53' engage threaded openings in the reci rocatin plate ii la'nd are held in adjusted position :by

suitable lock nut 53a.

Theeffectiveness of the described pea-shelling mechanism-may be materially enhanced by arrang'ing adjacent ones or plates "52 :tooperate out of phaserelative to one another, such as illustrated in Fig. -2 Where the ifirstand thirdplates are at'their extreme positions to the :right of "the conveyor line whilethe second and 'iicurth plates are at their extreme left positions-as viewed from the direction: of mo'vement'of -the conveyor. Itv will be understed that this or any other phase relation between th'e reciprocatin'g plates d2 may easily be established by mounting the :box reams 63 at angularly displaced positions relative itoione. 7

another upon their common operating shaft 54. :As'the actienpr the reciprocating studs 5.3 cracks the Y pea pods 'entrainediupon the conveyor plates 24, the. peas ireleasedlf-rom their .shells.

dropthrough the perforations. 35 upon the clined upper surface ofraniendl'ess apron 122 of canvas, rubber, or other rsu-itableimateri'al. This apron :is trained around *a lower and an upper:

roller 13. :and 174', respectively, :journaled in late erall'prdjeetions themachine frame at either side or ltherconveyor 211, *as shown in :Ergs. .2 and 4;, The-upperf-rnnof the apron may be supported by an inclined metalplate'lfi, as showniinrffig. 4e, and slanting -=sl ide surfaces 11 :and "E8 "may be. provided at either fiankioffapron :1 2=to safielyeonductsallpeascfalling -'chrough the apertures 'cf'the. conveyor plates 21. :onto the in'clin'ed upper face of said apron.

To separate the peas :from ianysmall debris "or dirt that may have :fallen through the r-perforations =35,- th'e 'endl'ess apron 1:2 is-fonly moderately inclined and is slowly turned in-suchaomanner that: lts 'upper Lrun travels. uphill. At theusame movement of, the apron-and Wi'll-rb; dumped onto the field as the endless apron returnsaaroundits upper roller 14,

To secure the described performance of the endless apron 12, its rollers may be of a polygonal', or prei erablysquare ercss seetion 'Mounted orIe end-oi the uppermo'il'er 14 is a bevel gear 35!} which -meshes with another bevel gear 8 I keyed upona the repeatedly mentioned drive shatt 'zs df the-conv-eyor-im so that the-apron maybe actuated tram the common source oi rotary power." 7

flhe rear end of the machine of the present invention may be provided with arcuateguard osfender .8-2 which is held in pb'sition by "the machine-flame. At-a suitable point near the bottom of 'the machine thisguard "or fender- 2 terminates intoa discharge lip 8-3,' as shown in 3,-dver which the processed vines and the empty pods are restored to2the :ground as the machine travels over the field.v

A nutfiber of suitable separator prongs tor fingers-8'4 may 'be arrangedat'. either sideQand intermediately of, the rows or studs 36 at suitable points behind the discharge lip 83, as shown in Fig. 3, to disengage the processed vines from ascents the studs at and make sure that the-eomeyor' plates '21 are cleared f-rorn all de'bri's by the time they move again underneath the hopper 4Y9 to receive a new supply of freshly gathered vines.

From the foregoing description -of the construction and operationof the-present invention,

it will be apparent that the machine is capable of handling large quantities of peasina con tinuous process; It will shell the peas whetherthe pods have been detached from thevi nes or" are still attached thereto. In consequence there-- of,-the imachineimay be combined with a mobile vine-cutting-meohanism and move across the fields to process the vines as they are out :andgathered, and "will "then return the processed vinesand the empty pods to the ground.

In'vi'e-w of the :pro-vis'ion-of-the circular knives, themac'hi-ne is capable of handling long vi njeswithoutan-ydanger of entanglement which might overload the machine. Due to the rounded faees of theeooperating studs and due "to their relative movement predetermined limits,

a verygentle handling of the peas-is assured "and damage to the 'peas is, therefore, greatly reduced.

Furthermore, the described relative movement-of i the studs and the aptitud of the reciprocating plates for gan'g ing into a series o'f consecutive units, assures release of practically an of the peas and reduces Waste, due to part :of the peas being di'scatded with th -v processed hulls, tc a minim-uzn. The same constructional peculiarities of ime machine are responsibleffor the fact that the "vines are not-subjected to excessive pressure and, hence; contamination of the peas' day-the" juice of theivines ismegligibly small.

While I have explained the present invention with the aid of a specifio example, it will be un 4 derstood that I donotwvish to be limited te -the constructional details-shown-and described which may be departed-from without departing from the scope and spiritof my' invention. Thus, the;

number :and the spacing of the studs on the '00- operating plates may be varied to increase the handling capacity of the machine and/orada'pt the machine toa particular typeof legume. -A1so-, the esilient oftransverse travel of the reciprocat ing plates may be increased er-decreased, "if de sired, and the machine may be provided with more or less such-plates than thenurnber -ac=1 many-shown. Furthermore, while shave-fie.

scribed invention-as part of a mobile har vester, it will be understo'o d that the *machine' constructedin accordance with my-"invention may be employed "as a portable unit which may be v set upsat-some centrally located place "and to which ithe-gaithered vines-"may becarted from. the surrounding fields for processing.

Having thus described my "invention; 'what I' claim as new 'anddesire to protect by Letter", Patent is:

"l. Arrangement fon'she'l'ling unvinedlegume's. comprising a conveyor line having a."horiz'ontal' runpmeans for advancing said conveyor line a plurality of longitudinal rows :of first studs pm -i,

jectiri-gupwardly from said: line, means for 'dliveringsaidunvinedlegumes onto said conveyor}: line a tar-1 initialportion ofsaid "horizontal run;- means for reducing the length "of the "vines df" said legumes at a subsequent"portion-of-said horizontal run including -=a plurality of-rotary kriives-rdisposed:intermediately of ad aeent rews of said :first :stud's, a. smmiber :of :plate's disposed parallel t and above a final portion of said horizontal run, each of said plates having a plurality of second studs projecting downwardly there- 11 from to be interposed between said first studs, and means for reciprocating said plates across said horizontal run in timed relation with an advance of said conveyor line.

2. Arrangementfor shellin unvined legumes comprising a conveyor line having a horizontal run, a plurality of longitudinal rows of first studs projecting upwardly from said line, means for operating said line in a predetermined direction, means for delivering said unvined legumes onto said conveyor line at an initial portion of said horizontal run, means for reducing the length of the vines of said legumes at a subsequent portion of said horizontal run and including a plurality of rotary knives disposed intermediately of adjacent ones of said longitudinal rows of studs, means for protecting the pods of said legumes from said knives while exposing said vines to the action thereof comprising a fork arranged in front of each of said knives with its prongs disposed at either side thereof and having an elongated arm in longitudinal alignment with said respective knife, said arm being of the shape of a fiat bar with its fiat faces extending in vertical planes, a number of plates disposed parallel to and above a final portion of said horizontal run, each of said plates having a plurality of second studs projecting downwardly therefrom into interjacent relation with said first studs, and means for reciprocating said plates and second studs across said horizontal run and first studs in timed relation with the operation of said conveyor line.

3. Arrangement according to claim 2 wherein the upper edge of said long-armed fork is provided with a number of humps rising gently and descending abruptly in the direction of movement of said conveyor line.

4. In a machine for harvesting legumes while attached to the vines upon which they have grown, a conveyor provided with a first plurality of rows of studs, movable along parallel paths through a shelling zone of said machine, for advancing vines and legumes through said zone, a second plurality of rows of studs mounted above and extending into the paths of the first rows of studs, and means for reciprocating said second plurality of studs intermeshing across the paths of movement of said first plurality of studs in timed relation to the movement thereof so that the studs of said second plurality pass the studs of the first plurality alternately in opposite direction. and in spaced relation thereto.

.5. In a machine for harvesting legumes while attached to the vines upon which they have grown, a conveyor provided with a first plurality of rows of studs, movable along parallel paths through a shelling zone of said machine for advancing vines and legumes through said zone, a second plurality of rows of studs mounted above and extending into the paths of the first rows of studs, means for reciprocating said second plurality of studs intermeshing across the paths of movement of said first plurality of studs in timed relation to the movement thereof so that the studs of said second plurality pass the studs of the first plurality alternately in opposite direction and in spaced relation thereto, and means for severing the vines into short lengths before they are moved into the shelling zone.

6. Arrangement for shelling unvined legume pods comprising a traveling conveyor member, a plurality of longitudinal rows of upwardly projecting studs mounted on said conveyor member,

said conveyor member having a plurality of perforations therethrough intermediate of said rows, means for delivering said unvined legume pods onto said conveyor member at an initial portion thereof, means provided at a subsequent portion of said conveyor for reducing the length of the vines of said legumes and including a plurality of rotary knives each disposed intermediate of adjacent ones of said longitudinal rows of studs. a plurality of plates disposed parallel to and above a following portion of-said conveyor member, a plurality of downwardly projecting studs mounted on each of said plates and projecting between said first mentioned studs, means for reciprocating said plates and downwardly projecting studs transversely to and in timed relation with the advance of said conveyor member, and means mounted to close a plurality of said perforations to prevent accidental escape of said legume pods through said perforations during a limited distance of travel approaching and under the knives in the region below said knives.

'7. In a machine for shelling legumes, an open bottom hopper for receiving legume vines, a plurality of narrow bars across the open bottom of said hopper, a plurality of knives aligned with said bars laterally of the open bottom of said hopper, a plurality of conveyor studs mounted to pass the open bottom of said hopper in a direction longitudinally of and between said bars towards said knives, power drive means mounted to advance said conveyor studs beyond the open hopper bottom and past the knives to draw vines from the hopper along the bars and into the knives for slicing the vines into short lengths, a plurality of laterally movable studs mounted in the paths of the conveyor studs at points beyond said knives in the direction of movement of said conveyor studs, and means for moving the laterally movable studs transversely of and in timed relation to the advance of the conveyor studs alternately to approach and recede from the conveyor studs to crack open legume pods therebetween and to remove the legumes from the,

opened pods.

BURTON C. COONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 288,743 Swingle' Nov. 20, 1883 456,730 Lorimer July 28. 1891 693,926 Thomas Feb. 25, 1902 815,711 Johnson Mar. 20, 1906 906,318 Smith Dec. 8, 1908 1,117,904 Pritchard Nov. 17, 1914 1,257,592 Ek Feb. 26, 1918 1,265,846 Weymer May 14, 1918 1,426,498 Owen Aug. 22, 1922 1,486,918 Plummer Mar. 18, 1924-- 1,513,834 Loftness Nov. 24, 1924 2,037,300 Arbuckle, Apr. 4, 1936 2,275,950 Hamachek, Jr Mar. 10,1942 2,333,576 Kerr Nov. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 55,759 Austria Oct. 10, 1912 564,162 "Germany Nov. 14, 1932 

